{"id":"F2019L00146","name":"Director of Public Prosecutions Regulations 2019","slug":"director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439927,"registerId":"F2019L00146-fast-fetch-1775955760984","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Director of Public Prosecutions Regulations 2019","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nDirector of Public Prosecutions Regulations 2019\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 07 February 2019\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nGreg Hunt\n\nMinister for Health  for the Attorney‑General\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Other functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions\n\n7 Additional powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions\n\n8 Prescribed bodies\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nDirector of Public Prosecutions Regulations 1984\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Director of Public Prosecutions Regulations 2019.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 16 February 2019\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983.\n\nState or Territory authority means an agency of a State or Territory government that:\n\n (a) conducts investigations into offences against State or Territory laws; or\n\n (b) is responsible for the conduct of prosecutions for breaches of those laws.\n\n6  Other functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions\n\n (1) For the purposes of paragraph 6(2)(b) of the Act, the other functions of the Director are:\n\n (a) to carry on proceedings instituted by:\n\n (i) an officer of, or a person employed by, the Commonwealth or a body established by an Act or a law of a Territory; or\n\n (ii) a person holding office under an Act or a law of a Territory; or\n\n (iii) a person who performs services for the Australian Crime Commission under an arrangement under subsection 58(1) of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002; or\n\n (iv) the Australian Securities and Investments Commission;\n\n  being proceedings instituted for:\n\n (v) the commitment of persons for trial in respect of indictable offences against the laws of a State; or\n\n (vi) the summary conviction of persons in respect of offences against the laws of a State; and\n\n (b) to perform, in respect of matters arising under laws made under, or continued in force by, the Australian Capital Territory (Self‑Government) Act 1988, the functions conferred on the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Australian Capital Territory by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 (ACT), during any period when no person holds office, or is acting, as Director of Public Prosecutions under that Act; and\n\n (c) to institute proceedings, or to carry on proceedings (whether instituted by the Director or not), under section 112AH of the Family Law Act 1975; and\n\n (d) to institute proceedings, or to carry on proceedings (whether instituted by the Director or not), under the Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime Act 1989 (NSW); and\n\n (e) to give, to an authority of the Commonwealth, legal advice on law enforcement or a matter relating to law enforcement, whether or not the advice is for the purposes of a particular investigation; and\n\n (f) to give, to a State or Territory authority, legal advice on the investigation or prosecution of an offence against a law of the Commonwealth or a matter relating to the investigation or prosecution of such an offence, whether or not the advice is for the purposes of a particular investigation; and\n\n (g) to institute proceedings, or to carry on proceedings (whether instituted by the Director or not), or to coordinate or supervise the institution or carrying on of proceedings, for the recovery of:\n\n (i) an amount payable by a person to the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority under a superannuation order made under the Crimes (Superannuation Benefits) Act 1989; or\n\n (ii) an amount payable by a person to the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth organisation under a superannuation order made under Part VA of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.\n\n (2) Nothing in paragraph 6(1)(e) affects the power of the Director (or a person entitled to represent the Director) under subsection 9(11) of the Act.\n\n7  Additional powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions\n\n  The Director has the power, during any period referred to in paragraph 6(1)(b), to exercise the powers conferred on the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Australian Capital Territory by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 (ACT), in respect of matters referred to in that paragraph.\n\n8  Prescribed bodies\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph 9(6C)(c) of the Act, the following bodies are prescribed:\n\n (a) the New South Wales Crime Commission established under the Crime Commission Act 2012 (NSW);\n\n (b) the Independent Commission Against Corruption established under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW);\n\n (c) the Crime and Corruption Commission established under the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 (Qld).\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nDirector of Public Prosecutions Regulations 1984\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the Director of Public Prosecutions Regulations 1984 in full (Schedule 1) and replaces the regulatory content with a concise list of functions, powers and prescribed bodies (ss 6–8). That replacement changes the regulatory framework in which the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions operates by restating and specifying additional functions and by identifying particular state integrity agencies for a specified paragraph of the Act (s 8). The instrument itself does not include operational or funding details, so practical scope depends on existing administrative arrangements."},"complexity_factors":["Numerous cross‑references to other statutes and external instruments (Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983, Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 (ACT), Family Law Act 1975 s 112AH, Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime Act 1989 (NSW), Crimes (Superannuation Benefits) Act 1989, Australian Federal Police Act 1979) which require readers to consult multiple sources (see ss 3, 6(1)(b),(c),(d),(g), 7).","Discretionary legal functions (power to institute or carry on proceedings; power to give legal advice) leave substantive judgment to the Director rather than prescribing mandatory action (see s 6(e)–(g), s 7).","Cross‑jurisdictional scope: the instrument covers interactions between Commonwealth, State and Territory laws and authorities, creating potential overlaps and coordination needs (definitions; s 6(1)(a), s 6(1)(b), s 8).","Prescribed body list for a specific paragraph of the Act links federal regulation to state integrity agencies, requiring readers to trace the downstream effect via paragraph 9(6C)(c) of the Act (s 8).","Repeal of an entire prior instrument increases interpretive work for users who may need to compare old and new regulatory framing (Schedule 1)."],"plain_english_summary":"What this instrument changes, mechanically\n\n- Replaces the earlier Director of Public Prosecutions Regulations 1984 (Schedule 1). (Schedule 1)\n- Sets out the Director of Public Prosecutions Regulations 2019 as a new instrument made under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983 and specifies its commencement date. (ss 1–3)\n- Lists additional functions the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (the Director) may perform and the circumstances in which the Director may exercise particular powers. (s 6)\n- Confirms the Director can exercise the ACT DPP’s powers during periods when the ACT DPP office is vacant or no one is acting in that office. (s 7)\n- Prescribes particular state integrity agencies for the purposes of paragraph 9(6C)(c) of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983. (s 8)\n\nWho this affects\n\n- The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, who is given or confirmed in specific functions and powers by this instrument. (s 6, s 7)\n- Commonwealth agencies and officers, and certain Territory or State actors whose proceedings the Director may carry on — for example, officers or employees of the Commonwealth, persons holding office under Territory law, entities performing services for the Australian Crime Commission, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. These categories are set out in the list of proceedings the Director may carry on. (s 6(1)(a))\n- State and Territory authorities that investigate or prosecute state/territory law offences (by definition in the instrument) and the three prescribed bodies named in section 8 (the NSW Crime Commission, NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, and the Crime and Corruption Commission (Qld)). (Definitions; s 8)\n- Persons subject to specific recovery powers (amounts payable under particular superannuation orders) where the Director may institute, carry on, coordinate or supervise recovery proceedings. (s 6(1)(g))\n\nWhy this matters (mechanics and immediate effects)\n\n- Expansion and clarification of the Director’s functions: The instrument explicitly authorises the Director to institute or carry on a range of proceedings that cross Commonwealth, Territory and State lines (for example, proceedings instituted by Commonwealth officers that relate to State law offences). This changes who can legally conduct or coordinate those proceedings at the Commonwealth level. (s 6(1)(a), s 6(1)(g))\n\n- Advisory role: The Director may give legal advice to Commonwealth authorities on law enforcement matters and to State or Territory authorities about investigating or prosecuting Commonwealth offences. Those are discretionary functions the Director may choose to exercise. (s 6(1)(e)–(f))\n\n- Temporary exercise of ACT DPP powers: During periods when the ACT DPP office is vacant the Commonwealth Director may perform the ACT DPP’s functions and exercise the ACT DPP’s statutory powers in relation to matters arising under ACT laws continued or made under the Self‑Government Act. This creates a mechanism for continuity of prosecutorial authority in the ACT. (s 6(1)(b); s 7)\n\n- Prescribed bodies: For the specific statutory purpose in paragraph 9(6C)(c) of the Act, three state integrity agencies are listed. That designation alters how the Act’s paragraph operates for those bodies. (s 8)\n\nWho decides, who pays, and what changes in behaviour\n\n- Who decides: The Director (a Commonwealth decision‑maker) is empowered to decide whether to institute, carry on, coordinate or supervise proceedings and whether to give legal advice under the functions listed. The instrument locates decision‑making authority in the Director for the specified matters. (s 6; s 7)\n\n- Who pays / funding: The regulation sets functions and powers but does not state how those activities are to be funded or how costs are to be recovered. Implementation therefore depends on existing funding and administrative arrangements outside this instrument. (no funding clause; see ss 6–8)\n\n- Behaviour changes required: State/Territory authorities and the prescribed bodies named in s 8 may interact with the Commonwealth DPP in new or clarified ways (for example, receiving legal advice from the Commonwealth DPP or having certain proceedings carried on by the Commonwealth DPP). Persons or organisations facing recovery proceedings under the identified superannuation orders may find the Commonwealth DPP can institute or coordinate those proceedings. (s 6(1)(e)–(g); s 8)\n\nCompliance burden, discretion and implementation points to note\n\n- Discretionary exercise of powers: Many of the Director’s functions in this instrument are discretionary (for example, instituting or carrying on proceedings or giving advice). That leaves substantial decision latitude to the Director in practice. (s 6; s 7)\n\n- Cross‑jurisdictional interactions and coordination: The instrument repeatedly cross‑references State, Territory and Commonwealth laws and agencies (for example, Family Law Act s 112AH, Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime Act 1989 (NSW), Crimes (Superannuation Benefits) Act 1989, Australian Federal Police Act 1979, and the ACT DPP Act). Using these powers will require coordination across jurisdictions and with the agencies named in s 8. (s 6(1)(c)–(d), s 6(1)(g), s 7, s 8)\n\n- Administrative and legal complexity for practitioners: Lawyers and agencies that interact with the DPP must map which instrument or Act applies in mixed Commonwealth/State/Territory matters because the regulation makes the Commonwealth DPP available to perform specified functions in those hybrid contexts. (ss 6–8)\n\n- Implementation risks and opportunity costs: The instrument does not provide operational detail (for example, funding, staffing, or formal coordination mechanisms). Achieving the practical effect of the powers listed therefore relies on administrative arrangements and intergovernmental cooperation that sit outside the text. (absence of operational provisions; ss 6–8)\n\nKey sections to read for detail: section 6 (listed additional functions), section 7 (additional powers during ACT vacancy), section 8 (prescribed bodies), Schedule 1 (repeal of the 1984 Regulations)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a straightforward remake of the 1984 regulations with modernised language and updated references. The scope remains consistent with the original intent: to prescribe specific functions, powers, and bodies under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983. The substantive content appears largely unchanged from the 1984 version, merely updated for contemporary legislative references (e.g., updating 'National Crime Authority' to 'Australian Crime Commission', modernising ACT self-government references)."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument: only 8 substantive sections plus a repeal schedule","Minimal defined terms: only 2 definitions in section 5 ('Act' and 'State or Territory authority')","Heavy reliance on external references: requires knowledge of at least 8 other Acts (Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983, Australian Crime Commission Act 2002, Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988, Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 (ACT), Family Law Act 1975, Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime Act 1989 (NSW), Crimes (Superannuation Benefits) Act 1989, Australian Federal Police Act 1979, plus three State/Territory Acts mentioned in section 8)","Nested conditional logic in section 6(1)(a): proceedings must be instituted by specific categories of persons AND must be for specific types of State offences","Temporal condition in sections 6(1)(b) and 7: powers only apply 'during any period when no person holds office' as ACT DPP","Cross-referencing between sections: section 7's powers depend on the circumstance described in section 6(1)(b)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThis is a set of regulations made under the *Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983*. It sets out the detailed rules for what Australia's federal prosecutor (the DPP) can and cannot do.\n\n**Key things it covers:**\n\n*   **Extra jobs for the DPP:** The main Act gives the DPP basic functions, but these regulations add specific extra tasks. These include:\n    *   Taking over criminal cases started by Commonwealth officers, ASIC, or Australian Crime Commission staff — but only for prosecuting people under **State laws** (not federal laws). This is unusual because the DPP normally handles federal crimes.\n    *   Temporarily acting as the ACT's prosecutor if that position is vacant.\n    *   Handling cases under the *Family Law Act 1975* (specifically about international child abduction — section 112AH).\n    *   Chasing money from criminals' superannuation (pension) funds under special laws.\n    *   Giving legal advice to Commonwealth agencies about law enforcement, and to State/Territory agencies about investigating or prosecuting **federal** crimes.\n    *   Handling proceeds of crime cases under NSW law.\n\n*   **Extra powers:** When the DPP is temporarily filling in as the ACT's prosecutor, they get all the powers that ACT role normally has.\n\n*   **Who the DPP can share information with:** The regulations list three specific anti-corruption and crime bodies that the DPP can disclose information to: the NSW Crime Commission, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission.\n\n*   **Cleaning up:** It repeals the old 1984 regulations, replacing them with this updated version.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   The DPP and their staff\n*   Commonwealth agencies seeking legal advice\n*   State and Territory police/prosecutors who need help with federal cases\n*   The three prescribed anti-corruption bodies (NSW Crime Commission, NSW ICAC, Qld CCC)\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThese regulations fill in the gaps between the broad powers in the main Act and the practical day-to-day work of federal prosecution. The most significant aspect is that it lets the federal prosecutor handle **State criminal matters** in specific circumstances — a cross-jurisdictional arrangement that requires careful legal boundaries. It also ensures continuity of prosecution services in the ACT if their local DPP position becomes vacant."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019","history":"/api/acts/director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019/history","analysis":"/api/acts/director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/director-of-public-prosecutions-regulations-2019/documents"}}